


Games Can Be Fun If You Want To Play Them

by orphan_account



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Death, F/M, Love, Romance, SAD DA BIG SAD OH FUCK, Stop crying you're making me uncomfortable, are you prepared for the pain?, i didn't think so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24170674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ꜰᴜɴ...ᴀꜱꜱᴜᴍɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ." - Mina AshidoMomo couldn't say that she'd ever expected to be in the infamous Hunger Games considering that she was just a random poor girl from a random district. She spent her time with her boyfriend Shouto and her bunny Lilu under the sun and in the grass. But all good things must come to an end. And all ends turn into beginnings.☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹Those Boku No-babies but like...in the hunger games.
Relationships: Aoyama Yuuga & Ashido Mina, Jirou Kyouka & Midoriya Izuku, Jirou Kyouka/Kaminari Denki, Kaminari Denki & Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Todoroki Shouto/Yaoyorozu Momo, Uraraka Ochako & Utsushimi Camie, Uraraka Ochako & Yaoyorozu Momo, Utsushimi Camie & Yaoyorozu Momo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter One:

|| momo || day 1 ||

_"May the odds be ever in your favor."_

_Those were the words echoing around Momo's head, even as she stood in front of a roaring crowd in her shimmering blue dress that looked like it was made from the ocean itself, her silky black hair in a braided crown, her lips full and glossy. She couldn't even feel beautiful as she glimmered like a diamond under the spotlights because those words wouldn't let her be._

_What odds? What about this could be in anyone's favor? There was nothing but pain and suffering in these games so what odds could ever be in her favor? The only ones who stood to gain from this were people in front of her, their faces caked in makeup, their hair dressed up perfectly, and their garments fitting them to the tee because everyone in the Capitol had endless hours to spend primping and polishing to perfection._

_All she could see was the blinding lights and his face, staring at her from the balcony, a mask of worry and sadness tainting his handsome features. His perfect lips curved downward at seeing his girlfriend made up like a princess with stars in her hair, his eyes were filled with worry for her, and his unscarred hands were shoved into the pockets of his suit as he stared down at her. And when the crowd's uproar was at its peak, she watched him mouth a simple, "I love you, Momo" to her before he was concealed from her sight by a standing ovation she didn't want._

_"I love you too, Shouto."_

Momo was flung back to reality which was like a punch in the stomach as the countdown started, jolting her from her thoughts and forcing her mind back to the present. Her midnight orbs jolted around the field in jagged motions, taking in the emerald grass that filled every inch of the circular field, the ominous treeline that bent around it, and, most importantly, the conucopia in the very middle of the field, filled to the brim with all manner of lethal weaponry. She swallowed roughly and shivered at the sight. How barbaric. Who thought up such a brutish "game?" 

A loud buzzer sounded, forcing Momo to make a split-second decision. Try to get a weapon? Or run? The Capitol had been extra brutal this year and decided to up the participant count to three tributes per district, one boy, one girl, and one of the district's choosing (you can imagine the chaos that bred), so that meant that there were thirty-nine participants in total. And from the looks of it, a good third of the tribute had gone straight for the cornucopia. It would be a massacere, Momo knew that much. So, she headed for the forest. But her district buddies had other plans. 

The other two people who had been chosen from her district we’re a boy named Awase who was about her age and a boy named Jakun who was two years older than the sixteen-year-old raven-haired girl. Awase actually happened to be Momo’s next door neighbor which is why she found it so distressing he’d been reaped. He was a kind boy who’d never done anything wrong. It wasn’t fair. Jakun, however, was a brash boy with a head of wild blue hair and bright red eyes that did little to hide the mischief he was always up to. It was no wonder the district had chosen the resident thief to be reaped, but Momo would still never wish this on anyone. 

She ran. Something in the backcourt of her mind told her not to leave them like that and let them walk right into a massacre without warning, but Momo’s blood was beating in her ears and her heart was pumping out of control and just the thought of being stabbed to death in a forest pushed her legs forward. She could lament her decision later. She could flood herself with guilt at her abandonment of them, but they had made their choice and she had made hers. She just wanted to survive. 

☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹

|| camie || 

Camie was like a statue under pressure. Her full lips were pressed into a tight line, her eyebrows were furrowed, and her deep brown eyes were focused solely on whatever happened to be in front of her. Don’t get me wrong she was normally just about the most happy-go-lucky soul you would ever meet. Her brightness and optimism were ever undimmed she always managed to see the bright side of just about everything, but you can imagine how hard it is for someone, even Camie Utsushimi, to be optimistic given the situation. 

She was a fast runner, faster than most, anyway, but she didn’t try her luck with the cornucopia because that was a death trap if she’d ever seen them. Thus, she was running swiftly through the forest, her feet nearly touching the ground as she leapt over rocks and ducked tree branches that threatened to take her head off as she passed them. 

But she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the sound of feet padding on the ground, the sound of another being running and crushing stray twigs under their heels. Her heart jumped to her throat as she grabbed roughly onto the branch of a tree above her head with calloused hand, pulling herself up swiftly and fixing her position on the thick branch, balancing her weight expertly. Camie had always loved climbing trees, but this brought a darker meaning to her day time activity. 

A minute later, a girl with a braid of silky raven hair walked by, out of breath and unzipping the front of her black, skin-tight suit. The forest was terribly humid and even Camie was starting to feel sweat bead on her brow. But that wasn’t the biggest issue on the honey-haired girl’s mind at the moment. At the moment Camie had a decision to make. She could either stay silent while the girl passed, though it didn’t seem like the girl was planning to move as she was sitting down. Or, Camie could quite literally jump on her. She did have the high ground. 

But, despite Camie’s inherent kindness, she couldn’t exactly just stay in the tree for the entire night, or until the girl felt she was ready to get up and move one So, she launched herself off the tree at lightning speed toward the girl sitting helpless against a tree.

The girl startled at as Camie planted her knees on either side of the girl’s thighs and grabbing her wrists portably a little rougher than necessary. Her eyes bore into the girl’s midnight hues with intensity. It was only when she noticed that neither of them had any weapons that she faltered slightly, easing up on the pressure just slightly. Maybe she could’ve easily snapped the girl’s wrists or hit her head against the tree....but Camie wasn’t a killer. She knew it would probably get her killed, but she didn’t have it in her to kill an innocent girl right off the bat. 

So, she roughly stood up and, despite her best judgement, extended her hand to the girl and said in a cheery, confident voice, 

“Hey, fam! I’m Camie!”


	2. Chapter Two:

|| momo || day 1 ||

"Hey, fam! I'm Camie!" Momo faltered slightly, not knowing what to do in this situation. Sure, this girl was being perfectly polite, but not a few seconds ago, Momo was one hundred percent sure she was going to kill her. So, herein lay her decision. She could trust the girl, or she could run. She figured that if she made a break for it, though, she wouldn't make it very far because goddamn she was tired. She really just wanted to close her eyes and lay down and forget about this horrible game, but it wouldn't let her sleep. So, reluctantly, she extended her hand to meet the girl's and said,

"Hello, my name's Momo," As she shook the girl's calloused hand. She was going to elaborate, but the sudden sound of drums echoed over the entire forest and Momo knew that could only mean one thing. It was starting. It was really starting. People were dying already, no doubt from the cornucopia, at least that's what Momo assumed must be the case. Unless people were already being picked off in the forests. She supposed it was equally likely. 

She was snapped from her thought's by Camie's hand pulling her roughly along over the uneven ground, forcing Momo to keep up with the honey-haired gil as she weaved expertly through trees and jumped logs that Momo would most certainly have tripped over had she not been warned by Camie. The raven-haired girl had to admit that she was a little suspicious of this girl, Camie, becuase, well, why would this girl just choose out of the blue to help her? They were quite literally in a life or death situation that heavily catered to the every-person-for-themselves mantra. But still, this girl was risking her life with Momo being almost as good as dead weight. 

Sure Momo was rather rough and tumble, she climbed trees for a living to gather honey (you can imagine that this led to a lot of bee stings which in turn led to a lot of falling out of the aforementioned trees), but running had never been her thing. She certainly had the golden strength to weight ratio, but hell if she could outrun anyone. Although, Camie didn't seem to care. She just pulled Momo along, urging her to go deeper into the woods. Momo wasn't sure that that would necessarily be the best tactic considering they would have no hope of finding their way back to the cornucopia now...but she also wondered if there was even any point of going back there. There was surely a group of people guarding it by now. It would be a stupid tactic not to if you ended up surviving the massacre that was the cornucopia. 

It was only when Camie and Momo reached a small stream that the horrible sounds of drums finally stopped She hadn't been sounding precise but she was pretty sure that she had heard at least ten, which made her mind spin uncomfortably imaging all the kids' bodies that were laying out there somewhere. How messed up was it to chose actual children to compete in the Hunger Games? From district seven, an eleven-year-old girl was chosen to compete by her district. She never would've been reaped but apparently she had no parents. How messed up is that? Momo could only hope that somewhere out there that girl was still alive. She even prayed for the little girl and Momo was a hardcore atheist.

Camie must've noticed the look on Momo's face, one of sheer horror and sadness, because as she bent down to the river to get a drink of the fresh, cool water, she said somberly, "I know, it's pretty bad, right?" Momo could only nod as she took a seat beside her newfound friend at the edge of the riverbank, staring off into the ominous darkness of the forest. They had eighteen days of this and the first day wasn't even over yet. Ten people were already dead, leaving twenty-five still standing. Twenty-seven people that would kill her on sight if they got the chance. Twenty-seven people, most of whom would be dead in eighteen days. She shuddered at the thought. 

It was only when the sudden sound of twigs crunching underfoot found Momo and Camie's ears that they actually snapped to attention. Momo's eyes were wide with obvious fear and Camie just looked like she was a gazelle getting ready to run at the first sign of danger. Camie was faster to react than Momo and pulled the raven-haired girl behind a thick tree, shielding them from view or anyone who might be passing by before whispering roughly to Momo, "Can you climb?" Momo's answer came in the form of a shaky, silent nod. "Good," Camie continued. "Then do it. I'll be right behind ya, coolio?" Another nod, then Momo scaling the tree expertly with Camie close on her tale. 

Momo knew how to climb without making a sound which is probably the reason they were still alive at the moment. It was becuase you couldn't give the bees any warning that you were there or else you'd be in a whole lot of very painful trouble. Momo had experienced that painful trouble enough times to know exactly where to put her feet. If they had had the time, Camie would've been impressed or mentioned it to the girl, but they didn't so she just followed silently behind, trying to get any sort of angle on the scene that seemed to be playing out right before their eyes. 

A boy ran through the forest, his brown hair a mess of tangles, his blue eyes wide with a fear that Momo recognized all too well. Behind him ran two boys who looked to be significantly older than the poor kid they were chasing, one with wavy platinum blond locks and the other with super short silver hair and eyes an unnatural color of green. They split up amongst the trees as the poor panicked boy with the sky blue eyes stopped to catch his breath at the stream. Momo's chest ached to help him becuase she could tell that the boy thought he had somehow lost him. But Momo could see the older boys weaving slowly between the trees and among the leaves like lions stalking their prey, getting ready to pounce on him the moment he left his guard down. She could see what was going to happen before they even moved, but however bad it was in her head, it was so much worse when they actually made their move. 

Just as predicted, they emerged from the tree line on opposite sides of the boy, circling them like a mouse caught between two cats. The boy looked around frantically for any path to escape, but there was none. He had cornered himself into a tiny clearing and he was going to be massacred for it. Momo didn't want to watch, but she couldn't pull her eyes away out of pure horror at the scene in front of her. Tears pushed at her retina's as the two older boys continued to get closer, inch by inch. She could hear the boy begging them not to, even as they had their knives poised and she wished anything that she could let go of the tree to cover her ears, but she couldn't for fear of falling out of her delicately balanced position.

She cried hot tears when the blonde jumped on the defenseless boy and brutally stabbed him in the chest over and over again. It was overkill and both boys knew it, but the silver-haired one didn't make a single move to stop him. It was almost as if he enjoyed the sight of his friend murdering an innocent kid bloody. If Momo had to guess, she would say these kids were career tributes. They probably spent their whole lives waiting to be reaped for the Hunger Games. Momo wouldn't be surprised if they even volunteered for their district. Some people thought they were crazy, but some considered it an honor. Momo would be surprised if normal kids had that kind of timing and efficiency without being career tributes.

She closed her eyes as they abruptly left because there was just so much blood. Momo didn't even know someone could bleed that much. The crimson red was all over the grass and soaking the boy's uniform and just...everywhere. It made Momo feel sick to her stomach at the sight of someone being so brutally murdered. Sure, it was the Hunger Games, but she had never had experience with death before so this came as quite the shock. And the guilt that came with knowing she could've jumped in to help him. She didn't know what she would've done. But she could've tried. A drum went off. 

Momo only left her position in the tree when Camie gave the okay and jumped down herself. Momo's feet landed shakily on the blood dampened grass below and all she could do was watch and cry as Camie knelt down gently beside the boy and closed his sky blue eyes which were wide open with the worst expression of fear Momo had ever seen. Camie lingered for a moment, almost as if she had known the boy, before she stood up and walked over to a sobbing Momo. Camie had seen a lot of stuff in her day and she wasn't really the crying type, but she could still feel it. Every ounce of the hurt Momo was feeling for the boy. 

She put a gentle arm on Momo's back, ushering her forward as she said simply, "His name was Luka. He was from my district. District One," Momo didn't know how to respond to that. If she had seen such a horrific event happen to someone who she knew, she would be even more of a mess than she was now. And yet Camie was like a statue carved from marble, her expression sad, but also calm, pensive as if she'd seen things like this before and she had already learned a long time ago how to get over it. 

"I'm sorry." Was the only thing Momo could think to say. That officially made eleven drums. 

☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹☻☹

|| jirou || 

Jirou could still remember the last time she had gotten to speak to her boyfriend. It hurt remembering it, but she remembered it and she certainly wouldn't let go of the memory any time soon. He had told her he loved her. He had told her that if she died he was totally breaking up with her. But he was crying when he said it, so she knew he was lying to her and she knew he would never do that to her. She remembered being quite literally ripped from his arms in a way that left seemingly permanent bruises and she certainly remembered the look on his face when she was taken away by men in white suits. She didn't want to, but she could. It was etched into her memory like a song you want to forget but that just stays in your head on repeat. 

She had heard eleven drums and it had only been a couple of hours since the games began which made her stomach twist in knots despite her calm outward demeanor. Jirou had to focus on the blinding green of the laves and every step in front of her just to keep herself from breaking down mentally. All she could do was focus on the next step she was going to take. That's how she'd been trained by her parents. That's how all career tributes were trained. Except, unlike most, Jirou didn't like killing. She hated it. It made her feel sick inside and it made her want to cry, but she had learned how to keep all those feelings suppressed somewhere deep down inside of her even when they threatened to surface. She was quick, she was efficient, she was everything a killer was supposed to be except emotionless. 

She had never wanted to be reaped, unlike the three other careers that lived in her district, District 6. She had never wanted to go to the Hunger Games to prove her worth and yet fate was cruel to her and chose her, the one person who didn't want this, as the one who got it. the three other careers in her district would've killed someone to get reaped, but not her, and yet she was still here. She hated it. If it didn't go against everything she had ever been taught and if she didn't have someone waiting for her back home, she would've slit her own throat by now. But she had too much to live for. Specifically, one person. So, she lived. She lived despite everything else. 

She was jolted from her thoughts by the sounds of a stick snapping underfoot behind her as she arrived at a small clearing in which she could actually see the blue sky. She snapped to attention, her dark eyes scanning the surrounding woods as she took post in the middle of the empty field, her serrated dagger clutched tightly at her side, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. She had a full view of the field in front of her as she waited for the person she knew was trailing her to make their appearance. She could hear them, feel them. She didn't know where they were or where she was expecting them to be, but she knew they were there.

She was given quite the big hint when a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her thin neck, threatening to snap it or cut off her air supply completely, whichever came first. But Jirou was better than that. She swung her head backward roughly, eliciting a grunt of pain from the person who had just tried to kill her as they stumbled backward, holding their nose in their hands. If Jirou had been a normal tribute, she would've hesitated before she plunged the dagger in her hands into the person's chest. She would've looked at their face when she stabbed them, she would've apologized, she would've done something to show that she wasn't an emotionless robot, but she wasn't a normal person. So, she ripped her dagger out of the chest of a faceless person, wiping the blood off her dagger on her black pant's leg. She didn't close his eyes, she didn't stay to even see if he was actually dead becuase she had stabbed him through the left lung so she knew he would be soon. She just left. Like she had always been told to do. Get the job done, move on. 

A twelfth drum taunted her with the remainder of what she'd just done as she walked away with a tightened jaw. 


	3. Chapter Three:

|| ochako || day 2 ||

Ochako had never been more scared as she was running through the forest, not knowing exactly where she was going as she weaved through the trees on light feet, her blood pumping loudly in her ears and drowning out everything else. She knew they wouldn't be far behind two hundred feet if she was lucky. Even less if she stumbled or tripped. And she couldn't keep up the pace she was at forever, but they certainly could. Ochako figured that they had to be careers because she knew that at least two of them were in nearly perfect shape and the other two were having no trouble hunting her. Either way, she was dead, but she figured, why not run? Why not prolong this cursed existence just a little longer?

She leaped over sticks and stones, pushing her legs faster and faster. She could feel the burning sensation in her lungs later, right now she just wanted to live long enough to feel the burning pain and the ache in her muscles. She couldn't see them anymore and she didn't dare look back for fear of slowing her pace, but she knew that they were out there somewhere, still tracking her, still chasing. Careers weren't gonna give up such an easy kill if they had the choice. No, they would hunt her until she was burnt out and that's what filled her with a cold-sweat fear that inched through her veins the farther she ran.

However, her pursuit away from danger was suddenly interrupted by her suddenly crashing into someone. Oh fuck. She was really dead now. She didn't have any weapons because she had chosen not to for the cornucopia at first and now she was being hunted by a bunch of ruthless careers. Not that she had ever had much of a chance anyway.

The chocolate eyed girl scrambled away from the person she had just bulled straight into, a girl with raven-black hair and midnight eyes who was rubbing her head to try and soothe the ache that Ochako had just brought. She was with another girl too. A girl with hair the color of honey and milk and rich brown eyes who was currently helping her friend up from the floor. Ochako would've started apologizing profusely had she not been sure these girls were about to slaughter her without a second thought. So, instead, she just backed up against a tree, her eyes watering with stone-cold fear.

However, to her surprise, the girls didn't make any motion to hurt her and instead just stood up, shaking the dust off themselves before the honey-haired girl extended her hand warily and said, "Are you okay?" Ochako just looked at her wide-eyed for a second, unable to comprehend what was happening. They should be trying to kill her right now. They were in the freaking Hunger Games and yet she was offering Ochako a hand up. Ochako thought of not taking it considering this could lead to an eventual backstab, but she wasn't really in a position to refuse help at the moment. So, she took the girl's hand and pushed herself to her feet.

"Are you running from someone?" The raven-haired girl asked Ochako kindly. Ochako could only nod as she quickly explained, "They-They're behind me- I- They-" But she was cut off by a very stern and take-charge voice asking her firmly, "How far behind?"

"A few hundred feet, maybe. B-But they're fast and I..." Ochako was suddenly starting to feel the aching in her legs and the burning in her lungs. She was suddenly starting to feel the adrenaline drain from her and her breathlessness ensued, limiting her voice as she tried to catch her breath somewhat. She just bent over onto her knees, accepting the fact that she was as good as dead. However, these girls didn't need to be. If those careers caught them, they were all dead. Especially since these girls didn't seem to have any weapons on them either. They didn't need to die too. So, Ochako said, "Just go. They'll be coming soon. You guys don't need to die too."

But her objections were silenced by the honey-haired girl just shaking her head as she scanned the surrounding forest for...something Ochako had no idea about. Her eyes only settled when the met the stream that divided the forest practically in half as she said, "Like, how long can you hold your breath for?" Ochako just shook her head, not really understanding her question. The girl seemed to understand her confusion and just said, "You know what, it doesn't matter. We don't have time. Just c'mere."

The honey-haired girl grabbed the other two girls' hands and dragged them to the stream a few feet away, ushering them into it, despite their hesitance about the matter. Ochako and the raven-haired girl just followed her lead as she laid on her stomach in the stream and told them to do the same. She then turned to the raven-haired girl who just nodded, seemingly already understanding the plan that Ochako had no idea about before she suddenly took an enormous breath and ducked her head under the water, disappearing into the gently waves it created. Ochako would've taken a moment to ask what was going on, but she didn't have a chance to because the honey-haired girl put a firm hand on the back of her head and said, "Big breath," Which Ochako took before her head was shoved under the water. Not a few seconds later, the last girl had ducked her head under the water to join them.

There was a moment of just dead silence in which Ochako was worried for a second that she would run out of breath in not too long, but the girls didn't have to wait long, becuase the sudden sound of feet crunching twigs rang through the water to their ears. Ochako's eyes widened in fear as a boot suddenly stomped down inches away from her face. She cast a fearful glance to the honey-haired girl who just furrowed eyes eyebrows and slowly brought a finger to her lips. Despite the fear coursing through her veins, Ochako obeyed and squeezed her eyes shut. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Apparently, it worked because a few seconds later they were gone and the forest went back to being silent as the careers moved on, assuming she had too. But Ochako didn't dare come up for air, even despite the aching in her lungs for oxygen, until the raven-haired girl and the brown-eyed girl gave the go-ahead.

Her head plunged through the surface of the water as she inhaled a gasping breath, coughing at the sudden intake of oxygen as she dragged herself onto the bank of the small river. She was trying to contemplate what had just happened to her as she lay on the riverbank, gasping for breath and soaking wet, but alive. She was alive. She thought for sure she would be dead and it was literally only the second day. But she was still here, seeing the green of the trees and the golden sunlight. They had saved her life. They weren't supposed to do that, and yet they had. Why?

In a blur, she was helped to her feet by the raven-haired girl who gave her a kind smile as she asked Ochako if she was alright. The chocolate-eyed girl nodded her head as she examined her enemy-less surroundings, the only question weighing on her mind being, "Why did you save me?" It sounded so ungrateful even to her ears so she quickly added, "Thank you, I mean. But also...why? This is the Hunger Games. You're supposed to be doing the opposite of saving my life, you know..." She attempted to chuckle, but it came out breathy and forced and she figured that this wasn't the best time to try and lighten the mood.

The honey-eyed girl just turned to her with a surprisingly bright smile considering the situation. It held behind it deep concern, but Ochako wouldn't know that until much later in our story. Nevertheless, though, the girl just said, "It's still early, fam. There'll be plenty of time to go all, like, Terminator on people's asses later." This made the raven-haired girl giggle as she rested her hand on Ochako's shoulder and said, "I'm Momo and that's Camie. What she means to say is that a life is still a life, even in the Hunger Games. We don't have to kill you, so we're not going to."

Ochako just stared at them shocked and not really knowing what to say. So, she said the only thing that bubbled to the surface of her mind higher than the rest of the words that clouded her throat: "Thank you." 


	4. Chapter Four:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! From now on this section will contain character Bios:
> 
> Izuku Midoriya:  
> Age: 16  
> Height: 5,5  
> District 4  
> Orphaned but survives with the help of his best friend Shinsou, likes bunny rabbits, doesn't eat meat becuase he can't kill anything, really good at stealing shit.
> 
> Hitoshi Shinsou:  
> Age: 16  
> Height: 5,9  
> District 4  
> His parents sold him for extra food (yikes), best friend is Izuku Midoriya, thinks calico cats are the best thing ever to grace planet Earth, also really good at stealing shit.

|| izuku || day 2 (technically night but whatever) ||

Izuku and Shinsou traveled through the forest on light feet, their blood pumping in their ears. So far, they hadn't encountered much of anyone which only served to worry the two boys further. The thing was that, in the Hunger Games, if you didn't die easy and early, you died late and horrifically. And as much as Izuku wanted to live, he didn't want to die painfully. He had almost considered throwing himself into the cornucopia just to get it over with quickly and efficiently, hopefully painlessly. But, at the time, his long-term best friend Shinsou had been the one to drag him out of that state of mind. Shinsou had always been more level headed in crisis while Izuku often tended to let his emotions take over. This meant that Shinsou was always the one with the well-constructed plan and Izuku was always the one with the make-shift, on-the-fly method of getting out of almost anything. 

However, this time they went with Shinsou's plan. They waited in the dense foliage at the edge of the enormous field that contained the cornucopia, watching as people got massacered by the careers who had basically taken over the cornucopia. It was horrible to watch with all the blood and the way the bodies dropped limply to the ground, devoid of life, made Izuku want to throw up and forced even Shinsou, a boy hardened by tough circumstances, to close his eyes to stop his ever-growing nausea. They watched as people ran right by them, only to get shot down by one of the four careers, a girl with bright blue hair and a face made for smirking who had damn good acuracy with each shot.

But, nevertheless, they waited out the massacring, the blood, and the horror, and when the careers finally looked like they were settling into the cornucopia for the night, tucking themselves away despite knowing perfectly well that no one would dare challenge them. At least, that's what they thought. 

But Shinsou knew that his and Izuku's only chance of surviving lay solely in that cornucopia. Sure, fleeing into the forest and hiding among the trees away from the rest of the world was a great strategy until you got down to the last few people and then you were fucked. Of course, Shinsou didn't like killing. He wasn't a monster. But any dummy knew that without weapons you had no chance of survival whatsoever, you might as well just lay down and die becuase that's basically what you're doing. So, when three of the four careers had nestled themselves under the protective shelter of the cornucopia, leaving just a lone member of their group to be the lookout, Izuku and Shinsou made their move. 

The long green grass worked in their favor, concealing them fairly well from the sight of any prying eyes. They didn't really care what weapons they found, just that they found some which would be easy enough considering that the careers hadn't really bothered to clean house after their sickening killing spree. As they crept through the wild emerald grass, they made sure to keep quiet and low, as the only other person awake within the vicinity was currently perched on the roof of the cornucopia. It made sense that they chose that post becuase it would give them a 360-degree view of the field, but that position didn't account for people slithering their way through the grass like snakes. 

They had also gotten lucky in that the boy perched on the roof of the cornucopia was a boy with bright yellow eyes and dark black hair. This was lucky becuase at least it wasn't the blue-haired girl. He was wielding a bow which normall would've been bad news for the two boys, but the bow and arrows they provided for the games were notoriously hard to aim accurately and the only one who seemed to be able to wield it properly, at least form Izuku and Shinsou's observations, had been the girl. 

When they approached the cornucopia, the boy on the roof was facing away from them, staring off into the quiet night that surrounded the empty field, brushing his hair back with his fingers and sharpening a knife, his bow and arrows lying lazily beside him. They were about five feet away from the metal structure when they found their first few weapons. They were all stacked in a lop-sided pile that had clearly not had a lot of effort put into it. Everything from hunting knives of bows to spears were stacked haphazardly. It would be so easy to just reach out and grab one...

The action of Shinsou removing a hunting knife from the pile caused the structural collapse of the stack of weapons. It wasn't a loud sound, but it certainly alerted the guard who stared at them with a mixture of contempt and hunger for blood, stopping the two boys dead in their tracks. Izuku didn't need Shinsou's nudging on his shoulder for him to grab a glinting dagger from the pile before the two boys made off like peter rabbit after getting caught in the cabbage field. But the career wasn't letting them get away that easily. 

An arrow flew past Izuku's head, barely missing his forest green locks and implanted itself in the bark of a tree, splintering it and causing the boy to stop momentarily. Maybe this guy wasn't as bad of a shot as they thought. He certainly wasn't as good as the girl, but he had almost speared Izuku right through, so he was good enough. But Shinsou just dragged him along toward the approaching treeline as the black-haired boy awoke his career friends who screamed angrily into the darkness of the night. 

By the time the other careers had awoken, Izuku and Shinsou were too far away to chase down on foot, especially for a couple of measly knives, but that didn't stop the thirst for blood of the careers from running rampant as arrows flew past the two boys heads. One barely missed Shinsou's ear while another grazed Izuku's shoulder, but the boys were fast. District four was cutthroat and being two orphan boys, they were always running from someone. Izuku was far more muscular than Shinsou because he tended to be the one carrying whatever goods they were stealing whether it was fruit or a fifty pound bag of flour, but both ran like the wind was pushing them forward. Izuku liked to joke about how he did all the heavy lifting in their relationship. 

Thus, they had disappeared into the treeline before the last career had even awoken, knives in their calloused hands which were rough from years of being on their own. As expert thieves, they were always going to have made it out there, they had just gotten lucky in that they escaped without much more than a scrape here or there. But the important part was that they now had weapons. Weapons they could use to defend themselves from whatever the games may throw at them. Becuase that's what the boys always did. They survived, but most importantly, they survived together.


	5. Chapter Five:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoka Jirou:  
> Age: 16  
> Height: 5,0  
> District 6  
> Raised a career tribute even though she never wanted to be in the Hunger Games, likes all types of music because she says it soothes the soul, yum yum blueberries

|| jirou || day 3 ||

Jirou awoke bright and early to the feeling of cold steel being pressed against her throat. A strange sensation ran through her, settling on something between elation and fear, but she remained ever outwardly calm thanks to the years of emotionlessness that had been trained mercilessly into her. I say elation because, despite Jirou not necessarily _wanting_ to die, she would welcome death like an old friend if it happened to come for her, and considering this situation seemed rather hopeless, she was just glad that a knife to the throat was the way she was going to go. It was fast and even though she would feel the sting of cold steel cutting into her flesh for the briefest of seconds, it would be over just as fast.

However, despite her full willingness to take the knife to the throat, the cold bite of death never came to claim her. Instead, it was merely the suggestion of mortality and a voice stuttering softly over the sounds of the forest at early morning. The dark-haired girl blinked her eyes open, the faintest glimpses of sunlight reaching her above the surrounding darkness. In front of her, a freckled boy with a head of wild green hair was standing with a soft expression on his face as he stared at whoever it was that was standing behind Jirou, ready to kill her at a moment's notice.

"Hito," He whispered jaggedly to the person with the blade pressed to Jirou's throat. She thought momentarily about disarming him, but considered against it because she didn't know if he had any other weapons on him. "Don't. Just because we're in the Hunger Games doesn't mean we have to become like the people in the Capitol who like seeing others suffer. I _know_ you're not like that. I grew up with you." He whispered. Wait, was he seriously trying to convince his friend _not_ to kill her? What possible reason could that have for that? These were the _Hunger Games._ It was kill or be killed and they only had themselves to blame if they let her go and she whipped right around and slit their throats while they weren't looking. At least, that's what she told herself she would do. 

"Izuku, no offense, but are you that stupid? This girl is obviously a career. Look, she somehow has a knife and she has _literal blood_ on her hands. She should be begging for her life right now, but she hasn't said a word since this conversation started!" He had a point there. Any normal tribute would've been crying or pleading or at least doing _something._ But Jirou was like an unmovable, unshakeable rock and it very obviously gave away her years of training. "If we let her go, she'll turn right around and stab us without a second thought. I'm not going to _enjoy_ slitting her throat, but I can't put our lives at risk for this girl!" He growled back. Honestly, if Jirou had been in his position, she would've already gotten the job done by now. But these two kids obviously had far more compassion than Jirou could ever hope to have. 

"Hitoshi, listen to me," The freckled boy's face became serious, his eyebrows furrowing seemingly with the gravity of what he was about to say. "The Capitol is the reason we're even in these "games" in the first place. You're just letting them win when you do this. You're letting them know it's okay that they treat actual human beings like this, Is that what you want?" 

There was a moment of silence in which no one spoke, no one said a word. The only noise that surrounded the group of three was the quiet, artificial buzz of the forest as it wound up to life again as the three of them stood there, contemplating Jirou's fate. For a moment, no one said anything. There was just silence between the three teenagers and the cold steel of a blade cutting into JIrou's throat. If it went much deeper, it would pierce the skin. She didn't care if it did or not, but dear god could they just speed the process along a little bit? 

Jirou was suddenly released and pushed forward, the blade nicking her jawline ever so slightly because he obviously wasn't being careful with the aforementioned knife. Whoever this Hitoshi kid was, he clearly wasn't used to handling weapons, and Jirou could tell just by the way he almost sliced his own finger open trying to let her go. Even as she was laying on the ground all of her instincts told her to take them out quickly and efficiently. No one would care. They were just two nobodies from a random district. Not to mention, she had been raised as a killer and it was what she did best. But something in her triggered as she watched the two interact, the obvious trust between and the genuine goodness that caused them to release her. They were everything she wasn't. They had humanity. They didn't think that death would be a preferable option. They wanted to live and they wanted others to live too. 

So, she swallowed her instincts. The last bit of a soul she had left in her assured her she was doing the right thing. She was doing what Denki would want. She was sure of that. She was doing the right thing for the first time in her life as she pretended not to know a hundred ways to kill without even coming near their blades. She acted like she didn't see her dagger sitting just a foot away from her in the grass. And she pretended like the adrenaline flooding her body had died down to keep her hands from twitching. Maybe it was a bad time to decide to change, but some people said it was never too late, right? And plus, if she was probably going to die anyway, why not at least die good?

note: sorry this took so long ~ <3


	6. Chapter Six:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina:  
> Age: 16  
> Height: 5,2  
> District: N/A (grew up in the Capitol)
> 
> Shouto:  
> Age: 17  
> Height: 5,11  
> District: 3 (formerly)
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long but here it is. it's a lot tamer than the other ones cuz i figured we needed a break from incredible violence (/UwU)/

|| mina + shouto || day 4 || 

"I mean, games can be fun, if you want to play them," Mina hid from Shouto's judgemental bordering on angry expression by downing another sparkling apple cider. Sometimes she wished she was old enough to drink alcohol to wash away the pressure of living in a society that validated watching people kill each other when you yourself believed it was fucked up as hell, but then she saw how it turned the adults into soulless monsters that laughed as they watched a fourteen-year-old kid get their head smashed in by a rock. Mina had grown up in the Capitol, so it was strange to some that she herself didn't enjoy watching the games like everyone else did. But she was raised in a family that was only in the Capitol thanks to her grandmother who was a winner of the games many years ago. Thus, even though her entire life had been spent among the wealthy who stuffed their faces at every chance and watched children murder each other, she was far from one of them.

'What?" Shouto's eyebrows furrowed. He, on the other hand, had grown up in the dirt and the dust of district three, and the only reason he even lived among these snobby psychopaths was because he'd won the games when he was fifteen. Fucking fifteen. As a fifteen-year-old kid forced to compete in a game to the death that was literally over-seen by your own father, it was safe to say that he hadn't exactly left unscathed. Yes, you heard me right. Enji Todoroki was the president of the Capitol and ruled it with an iron fist which meant that no one from any district got into the pearly, gleaming city that modeled everything beautiful in the world unless they won the games first. Not even the woman Enji loved. This meant that Shouto lived with his mother until he had gotten reaped. 

The dual haired boy could still remember the look of full pride on his father's face when he stepped into the Capitol, fresh wounds still healing, becoming scars far too slowly. He resented his father's pride and his love and he wanted none of it becuase Shouto, even despite his mother reminding him that the Capitol wasn't inherently evil, still refused to believe that he could ever have any love for the place that suppressed thousands of people and forced literal kids to kill each other in cold blood for the grand prize of surviving a few more years. 

"Sho, I'm not talking about it like that," Mina sighed, knowing this was a sensitive subject for him. Not just because of his past, but also becuase of Momo. Make no mistake, it wasn't that Shouto didn't have faith in his girlfriend, Mina knew he was of the opinion that Momo could do anything, but who wouldn't want their girlfriend to be safe? And the Hunger Games was anything but safe. "I'm saying that...well, look at it through the eyes of, say, a career. They've been working for this their entire lives. They're born killers. They're born to win these things no matter what the cost. For them, this is a game. For them this is fun." Mina shivered at her own thoughts, recalling seeing a young boy brutally murdered on the first day by a bunch of careers. She couldn't imagine how anyone could gain satisfaction from this, but it was the truth. 

"That's fucked up." 

"Yeah, but it's a lifestyle some people choose," Mina slouched in her chair. She was so unlike the rest of the Capitol that sometimes Shouto forgot she'd been born and raised there. She rested her elbows on the table and got into food fights at the dinner table. She did thumb wars while they were supposed to be watching a classic film and nearly all of her fancy dresses were torn or stained in some form or another, and most importantly, she didn't take shit from anyone about the Games. Since she was born there, she couldn't technically be kicked out for actively speaking out against the Hunger Games, and she used her immunity to full advantage. "It's a fucked up lifestyle, but imagine if you were taught your entire life that your purpose was to kill people." 

"My fucking _dad_ runs this shit, you think I don't know about that. It's practically in my blood," His eyes were glued to the widescreen in front of him as he watched Momo and the two girls she'd just found walk with an almost serenity through the sunlit forest. He hated watching her be put in danger over and over again but it would kill him not to know she was alright. And he'd promised her when she left that he'd be watching. _"You'll be like my guardian angel."_ Had been her exact words. He wished now that he'd said anything in response to her before she was being ushered away from him, anything that she could hear. But instead, he was a coward, too afraid that saying something meant saying goodbye. And now, as he watched, he could only wait and hope to a god he didn't believe in that the last thing he'd gotten to say to her wasn't silence. 

"Dude, you're not a killer," Mina had had this argument with her friend before. He was convinced that he was a murderer like his father. That he was a cold-blooded killer somewhere deep down becuase the act of killing had gained a feeling of sickening normalcy over the eighteen days he'd been trapped in that arena, fighting to not die. Not to live because that wasn't living. Just not to die. Mina knew, however, that Shouto may have shared the Todoroki name, but he wasn't anything like his dad and she knew that underneath all his coldness and icy stares, that deep down he had a good heart and a soft soul. Though, you would be hardpressed to find it if you weren't incredibly close to him. "You're nothing like your dad. I know you think you're going to go all psycho someday when someone makes you angry, like, you're gonna snap or whatever, but you won't. You're a good person, Sho. Just think about it, you've literally been running on like, two hours of sleep so Momo never had to be alone. That's a total good-person move."

"It doesn't mean anything if I can't protect her." He mumbled so quietly that Mina almost didn't hear it. I can't even describe in words to you what Shouto Todoroki would give just to be holding his girlfriend at that moment. What he wouldn't give just to stroke his hands through her hair and inhale her sweet scent and feel her breathing, her heart beating a steady rhythm. And Shouto knew full well that Momo didn't need a guy to protect her, but it wasn't about him wanting to be the stereotypical 'man' in the relationship, he just wanted her to be safe and know she was loved. And how could she be safe in a forest with a bunch of murderers? 

"Okay one, I've met that girl and she doesn't need protection from _anyone._ And two, it means everything. Sho, you're like her guardian angel. You're always watching over her. I watched you down seven cups of coffee over the course of five hours last night. That's fucking commitment dude. And if that doesn't count for something then, seriously, you tell me, what does?" Shouto could tell that that was the official ending to the conversation becuase Mina leaned back brought the bottle of sparkling apple cider directly to her lips, abandoning the glass she had just been sipping from. Mina was the kind of person who always had the final word on an issue and god help the person who tried to challenge that. She was a one-of-a-kind person with more self-confidence than her body could handle, and she somehow managed to dole it out in perfect doses with each word, being assertive while still being humble. And that was her final word. It was the same thing she said every time they had such an argument, but it was the truth. Shouto Todoroki was a good person.


End file.
